What once seemed impossible has become possible….
The new Republican House Speaker has put forward a two step plan to fund the Government programs and departments….
The first vote to accept the PRESENT budget spending…..
Then a vote on part of the budget on Jan. 19 and another vote on the rest on Feb. 2…..
This would have the present spending continue and does NOT address spending for Israel or the Ukraine….
Of course the House RighWingNuts wanted cuts in exchange for spending approvals , but simply was NOT gonna go anywhere….
Mike Johnson isn’t Kevin McCarthy…..
So it does appear the a group of Republicans Could get the Democratic votes to pass the new House Speakers plan….
What comes next from the WingNuts who wanted to flex on the Democrats with cuts?
We don’t know….
Disagreement among House Republicans over Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) two-step plan to extend government funding until next year is throwing Washington into uncertain territory ahead of a Friday shutdown deadline — a familiar pattern for the House GOP that is nonetheless creating the Speaker’s first major balancing act of his tenure.
Chances of a shutdown seemed to decrease Monday, as indications emerged that Democrats could help Johnson pass the two-step continuing resolution (CR) despite their reservations, with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying he was “pleased” that Johnson was advancing a bill without spending cuts, and House Democratic leaders saying they were “carefully evaluating” the proposal….
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Under the CR, part of government funding would run out Jan. 19, with the rest running out Feb. 2 — a concept that members of the hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus initially embraced.
But now, many of those members in the right flank are enraged that the bill extends funding at current levels — dubbing it a “clean” CR — without shooting for conservative policy concessions or making substantial cuts to spending.
“I will not support a status quo that fails to acknowledge fiscal irresponsibility, and changes absolutely nothing while emboldening a do-nothing Senate and a fiscally illiterate President,” Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), chair of the House Freedom Caucus, said on X.
More than enough House Republicans have expressed opposition to the plan to make GOP leadership need to rely on Democratic votes in order to pass the bill…
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But even those who are most vocally opposed to the stopgap plan are not ready to float replacing Johnson with a different Speaker.
“I’m not gonna go down that road,” Roy said.
“He inherited a bad situation,” Norman said….
House Democrats come on board for Johnson plan……..
Democrats in Washington have softened their early opposition to the Republicans’ tiered approach to government spending, signaling a new openness to supporting the House GOP bill and averting a government shutdown at week’s end.
In a Monday letter to House Democrats, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) and his top deputies suggested that Democrats may support the Republicans’ short-term funding bill to keep the government open into early next year — a sharp change of tone that could pave the way for easy passage when the bill hits the chamber floor on Tuesday….
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Senate Democrats also come on board for the Johnson 2 step plan….
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Monday said he is “pleased” with Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) plan to avoid a government shutdown.
Schumer noted that Johnson’s “laddered” stopgap spending bill — which funds four bills through Jan. 19 and the remaining eight through Feb. 2 — is “far from perfect,” but indicated the “clean” measure provides a path to funding the government for the next two months….
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Schumer noted that Johnson will need support from across the aisle in order to advance the stopgap plan, and added that the avenue to do that is avoiding “poison pill” riders and deep cuts….